Thanks to a lot of sunshine, low solar panel prices and high electric bills, Nevada is one of the best places to get solar panels for your home.
There are also some excellent state and federal solar rebate incentives available, financing options and deals for $0 upfront solar that can help make getting panels even more affordable. Not to mention that solar panels also increase the value of your home, are environmentally friendly and, if you get batteries with your system, lets you be energy independent.
Rising electricity costs are also causing many Nevada homeowners decision to go solar, as they can save up to 70% on their monthly energy costs by going solar.
Solar Panels Nevada: A Guide
There’s a lot of information out there about solar – how much it costs, how much you’ll save, what incentives you can get, and much more. And it can be confusing and overwhelming.
Below you’ll find an overview of some key bits of information you should know about getting solar panels in Nevada. You’ll also find some resources on where to get personalized estimates to see if panels make sense for your home or not.
How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in Nevada?
You will see a wide range of estimates for how much solar panels cost in Nevada. A big reason why is there really is no true “average.” Every home and every situation is different.
The incentives you qualify for, the number of panels you need (or how many your roof can fit), how much energy you use and more go into figuring out your true costs and savings.
You also have to factor in your goals for going solar. Is it something where you just want to reduce your energy bills as much as possible, or do you want to be energy independent and go totally off-grid?
But just to give you some idea of what you can expect, the average cost for installing solar on a home in Nevada is between $11,000 – $16,000. So a good average total cost to plan on is around $13,500.
Per watt costs for a system range from around $2.35 to $3.34, with an often-cited average being $2.87.
Nevada Solar Incentives
One of the things that make solar even more appealing these days are the incentives being offered to homeowners who install solar. There are states that have better incentives than Nevada, quite honestly. However, there are still some decent incentives that Nevada homeowners can take advantage of.
You can find an overview of state incentive programs for homeowners, businesses and organizations here.
But here’s an overview of the current incentives for residential solar.
Net Metering
Net metering is one of the best incentives you can get if you have solar panels. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically where the electric company pays YOU for electricity.
This happens if your solar panels produce more electricity than your home uses. If that’s the case, you can sell that excess electricity back to the electric company, and they have to buy it from you.
In Nevada, how much you get depends on your utility company NV Energy has a net metering project that started out where customers would get credits worth 95% of the retail rate of electricity.
However, as the utility met its goals of installed solar, that rate dropped. Currently, customers will get paid 75% of the retail rate, which is the minimum amount allowed in their net metering program. It’s still a pretty sweet deal, though.
If you use the Valley Electric Association, then your credits are paid at the same rate you would pay for your electricity from VEA.
Solar Access Rights
You may have heard stories of homeowners who wanted to go solar but were stopped by their local officials or Homeowners Association. This will not happen to you in Nevada. If you want to get solar on your roof, it’s your right to do so. No HOA or local official can legally stop you from doing it.
Also in Nevada, you can enter into a solar easement with your neighbors. Doing this will make sure you have continued access to sunshine to power your panels.
Lower Income Solar Energy Program (LISEP)
This program doesn’t directly benefit homeowners. However, it could indirectly help lower-income people get solar.
The program provides incentives for businesses that serve low-income populations. This includes homeless shelters, food banks and low-income health clinics. It also provides incentives for low-income housing and multi-family housing that qualify for the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
Nevada Solar Rebates
Currently there are no statewide rebates available for residential solar. However, sometimes you may be able to get some through solar panel manufacturers if you purchase their panels for your home.
If you get battery storage with your system, NV Energy offers up to a $3,000 rebate for customers. The amount of the rebate depends on the size of your battery and if you’re on a TOU-rate.
If you are on the TOU-rate you get a $0.19 per watt-hour of storage rebate. If you are not on the TOU-rate, then you get $0.095 per watt-hour of storage
Federal Solar Credit For Nevada Homeowners
All homeowners in Nevada are eligible for the federal tax credit for solar installations. This is a great incentive that currently is a 30% tax credit.
That’s 30% on ALL the expenses associated with your system. This includes the solar panels, labor costs, and all other components that go into your system (i.e., inverters). It also covers batteries.
If your system costs $15,000, then your tax credit would be $4,500. It’s a dollar-for-dollar credit. So if you were to owe $5,000 in taxes for the year you get your panels, you would only owe $500 after the credit.
If you don’t owe any federal taxes, the credit can be rolled over for up to 5 years.
Are Solar Panels Worth It in Nevada?
Nevada homeowners have a lot going for them when it comes to solar. You live in one of the sunniest states in the nation, which means your panels will produce more power than in many other states.
Electric bills in Nevada can also be quite high. While electric rates are below the national average, electric bills tend to be high because of the hot climate in many parts of the state.
Because of this and the available incentives, Nevada ranks #3 in the nation in terms of the solar savings you can have by putting solar on your home. Estimates show that it takes 7.5 – 10 years on average for Nevada homeowners to make back the cost of solar through the electricity savings they get.
And, over 20 years, estimates are that Nevada homeowners can save between $25,000 and $40,000 on their electric bills thanks to solar. According to one site, the average lifetime savings for solar panels in the state is over $100,000!
So for many in the state, solar can be totally worth it. This is particularly true if you meet these three criteria:
- You own a single-family home
- You pay $100 or more each month for electricity
- Your roof gets a decent amount of sunshine each day
If you do meet those criteria, solar may very well be a no-brainer for you. And it makes sense to at least get a few estimates to see what your costs and savings will be.
And, don’t forget, there are other benefits to going solar as well.
One more financial benefit is that solar increases the value of your home.
Another benefit is that, if you get battery storage with your solar system, you can be energy independent. That means you won’t have to worry about any big increases in electricity costs. It also means that if the power goes out in your area, your lights, appliances, electronics, etc. will still work.
But Does Solar Make Sense For You?
All that said, solar does not make sense for everyone. The number of panels you can fit on your roof, how much electricity you use, the amount of direct sunlight your roof gets, the angle of your roof and other things all factor into whether or not solar makes sense for you.
The only way to get an accurate idea of your costs, savings, what incentives you qualify for, the financing options available and more is to get a custom estimate from trusted, local solar installers.
We highly recommend getting estimates through UnderstandSolar.com. They’ve been around since 2014 and have helped more than 400,000 people go solar.
They are the #1 Solar Advisor in the U.S. and can help you find exclusive deals on solar in your area. Plus, they have partnerships with the largest, most trusted, solar installers in Nevada. So you know you’ll be getting cost and savings estimates from credible companies.
You can get a solar savings estimate from there in under a minute. Just click the link here to go to their site, answer a few questions and you’ll get the info you need to make a smart decision about solar for your home.
Waiting Too Long To Go Solar May Prove Very Costly!
If you even think solar may make sense for your home, you’d better act soon. Because, if you don’t, you may miss out on HUGE savings that look to be going away. Here’s why…
As already mentioned, the 26% tax credit is going away. It drops to 22% in 2023 and ends in 2024. It’s a very generous tax cut that can help reduce your cost of solar by thousands of dollars!(This is no longer the case with the August 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which increased the federal tax credit and extended it for 10 years.)- Solar panel prices have dropped a lot over the past 10 years. However, many people expect them to shoot up very soon. This is due to supply chain issues, material shortages, tariffs on imported panels, and increasing demand worldwide.
- More and more homeowners across the US have been dealing with prolonged power outages due to increasingly severe weather and an aging power grid. And these issues aren’t expected to get better anytime soon. By getting solar + battery storage, you won’t have to be worried about being left in the dark.
- The longer you hold off, the more you’ll miss out on $1000s in savings on your monthly electric bills.
With the potential to save $25,000 – $40,000 or more, great incentives, and low prices, it’s at least worth seeing what your costs and savings could be with solar.
So use the savings estimate tool from UndestandSolar.com and get personalized help from a trustworthy local NV solar installer.
You may decide that solar doesn’t make sense to you after getting the numbers. But at least you’ll do so knowing you’ve made an informed decision.
Get started here to see exclusive solar deals in your area and find out if solar makes sense for your home.
